INTPs are smart?

[Oculus Sinister]

Why? Wouldn't be the most likely type to have brain damage and mental disorder?

*aside from the ISTP, we have the least amount of coping resources of any type

*most likely in college to be referred for drug abuse



Sorry. I just realized I didn't post up my source.

http://www.discoveryourpersonality.com/intp.html

[MacGuffin]

Huh?

[Zephyrus055]

Huh?
Seconded

[Nighthawk]

It is a tightrope walk, my friend ... but there are great rewards on the other side.

[SolitaryWalker]

ITPs have thickest skin of all types and hence dont need coping resources. That is why they dont bother acquiring them. Moreover, coping resources implies external ways of dealing with problems, being so internally focused, the external resources would be hardly off any good.

[Prothero]

"Males were highest on "obliviousness index" (relatively unaware of spouse's dissatisfaction with the relationship)."

Having read the list before, I always thought this one was suspect. "Relatively unaware" gives a clue, in that the statement is based on the more common type standards. We may be quite aware, but just don't care, refuse to submit to the partner's needs (S and F come to mind), or secretly hope the relationship can be ended. As we're unlikely to force an issue, sometimes a partner's dissatisfaction is a blessing, letting us off the hook.

"With ISTPs, had the lowest mean level of coping resources; ranked 16th out of 16 types on total resources."

This one seems meaningless, especially as the concept of coping resources isn't identified. If we required resources to cope, and then failed to utilize them, we would deserve such a comment. A more important question would address either the type of issues needing resources, or if some types more capable of keeping a perspective that doesn't require the coping skills of others. Giving some idea of the type of crisis might help determine if the statement is a strength, or weakness. The F types in my life tend to spend much of their life, coping, yet rarely have the problems been important enough for an INTP to be bothered with.

It's odd to me that some types actually enjoy their stresses. They will often deny it, yet they continue to create trouble for themselves, or turn some minor situation into a major obstacle to their lives. As INTPs, sometimes we don't cope, because there is no need to do so.

[Karl]

I think INTPs do need "coping skills" in a sense, but a lot of is just purposefully changing how you think. It also depends on what you mean by coping skills. Coping with what? The death of a friend? Anxiety? Depression? All at once?

Maybe I have lots of coping skills for the death of a friend and I just don't know it becuase none of my friends have died, and they're actually testing for anxiety coping skills. Actually there's no telling what I would do if a friend died, it wouldn't be good...

[Karl]

* Most important feature of an ideal job: creativity and originality; earning a lot of money.

Just noticed this. What the hell is this? Earning a lot of money is part of an ideal job? I mean, I won't object to more money, but it's not a major motivator for me...

[Prothero]

Just noticed this. What the hell is this? Earning a lot of money is part of an ideal job? I mean, I won't object to more money, but it's not a major motivator for me...

...or any other INTP, I suspect. It's a really bad list, and the money thing seems to go against every other list in I've ever seem concerning what it is to be us. I've taken 2 significant pay reductions over the years, because in each case, the new job was more interesting (challenging, and variable in scope.)

Not that I'd turn down a raise.

[Lurker]

ITPs have thickest skin of all types and hence dont need coping resources. That is why they dont bother acquiring them. Moreover, coping resources implies external ways of dealing with problems, being so internally focused, the external resources would be hardly off any good.

Are you kidding? If this board is any indication, INTPs are rather thin skinned.

PS - Everyone needs coping resources. It's just harder for IXTPs to acquire them or acknowledge that they need them.

[Birdsnest]

Decent website, this seemed quite true on INTPs and ESFJs in Organizations:

http://www.discoveryourpersonality.com/newsletter24.html

And, at first reaction we may be thin skinned, but the intellectualization is our way of coping with it.

But, I do think INTP's are smart. We may be attracted to the drug scene at first, but we don't necessarily have addictive personalities. So we can often pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps. We can survive that exploratory period, going way beyond others. So, yes, I think INTP's are smart, especially later in life. We learn best from experience.

We can go from the deepest reaches of hell to the highest eschelons of heaven, and see it all.

[stopharian]

Just noticed this. What the hell is this? Earning a lot of money is part of an ideal job? I mean, I won't object to more money, but it's not a major motivator for me...

Dont worry Chuck....Youll grow out of this Commie thing. I predict that you will vote Republican by age 34.


Honestly why have a job if they dont pay you well. you might as well be out doing something that inteests you instead of something that interests them. I know that that staement was hopelessly bourgeois, So Im an enemy of the people, kill me or reeducate me.

[Karl]

Dont worry Chuck....Youll grow out of this Commie thing. I predict that you will vote Republican by age 34.


Honestly why have a job if they dont pay you well. you might as well be out doing something that inteests you instead of something that interests them. I know that that staement was hopelessly bourgeois, So Im an enemy of the people, kill me or reeducate me.

I have no idea what you're going on about. Are you saying you'd rather have a job that pays more than a job that you find more intellectually stimulating?

[SolitaryWalker]

Are you kidding? If this board is any indication, INTPs are rather thin skinned.

PS - Everyone needs coping resources. It's just harder for IXTPs to acquire them or acknowledge that they need them.

They seem thin-skinned because they create a hostile, close to non-supportive environment for each other. Other types are much less sturdy on this board. They will attest to this personally...

I am saying that ITPs are thick-skinned because of the dominant Ti, that is as far down the T path as you can go.

By and large, the amount of emotional support one provides tends to be in direct proportion to the amount of emotional support one wishes to receive.

[Karl]

Honestly I think I would have benefited at my worst time if what emotional support I managed to receive was more intellectual support. Helping me put things, especially my self image, in perspective, and showing me that there are other thought patterns that one can live by. I had to figure all of this out by myself.

It wasn't that support wouldn't have helped, it's just that emotional stuff seemed so pointless to me almost all the time. It wasn't that I didn't need to cope better, it's just that the problem was as deep rooted as how I thought.

[airjaw]

INTP's are naturally smart, but not necessarily successful.

[garak]

*aside from the ISTP, we have the least amount of coping resources of any type

ISTPs have always seemed like the most thick-skinned and unshakeable of probably all of the types. I can't even imagine what a depressed one would be like.

[SolitaryWalker]

ISTPs have always seemed like the most thick-skinned and unshakeable of probably all of the types. I can't even imagine what a depressed one would be like.

I dont get why the ISTP is more unshakeable than the INTP? Wouldnt the N strengthen the T for an INTP?

ISTPs are more easily vexed because they dont see the big picture as clearly and are more put off by little things.

I've come across many depressed ISTPs, they fall deeper than INTPs and have more difficulty climbing out because of their lack of N (more difficult to get out of the rut).

And, ISTPs tend to lack the confidence that INTPs have because of their lack of proficiency with abstract problem solving, whilst INTPs tend to believe that they can solve any problem, regardless of how complex. In fact, the more complex--the better.

[garak]

I dont get why the ISTP is more unshakeable than the INTP? Wouldnt the N strengthen the T for an INTP?

ISTPs are more easily vexed because they dont see the big picture as clearly and are more put off by little things.

I've come across many depressed ISTPs, they fall deeper than INTPs and have more difficulty climbing out because of their lack of N (more difficult to get out of the rut).

And, ISTPs tend to lack the confidence that INTPs have because of their lack of proficiency with abstract problem solving, whilst INTPs tend to believe that they can solve any problem, regardless of how complex. In fact, the more complex--the better.

Maybe my impression of ISTPs is just superficial, then. I've never known one very closely, but in my experience they come across as being much more sure than themselves than we do.

[Rhu]

I have a hard time picturing a world with INTPs existing outside of an echo chamber of uncertainty, anymore.

[MacGuffin]

Maybe my impression of ISTPs is just superficial, then. I've never known one very closely, but in my experience they come across as being much more sure than themselves than we do.

I agree with that. I think they are less likely to get depressed, they just don't give a damn about existential matters. They just do things.

[nittanylion302]

I agree with that. I think they are less likely to get depressed, they just don't give a damn about existential matters. They just do things.

yep, my best friend is an istp, not a care in the world. Smokes pot, plays frisbee, and works with engineering tools.

[SolitaryWalker]

Maybe my impression of ISTPs is just superficial, then. I've never known one very closely, but in my experience they come across as being much more sure than themselves than we do.

I dont see any reason to think of them as more secure than INTPs. NTs by their nature tend to be more competence oriented, and more competent in general because they are quicker learners because of their N.

ISTPs that I got to know were much less sturdy than INTPs that I got to know, and in my theorizing I could well argue that the ISTP design is much less solid.

INTP is about 95/5 on the T/F scale, the ISTP around 90/10. The N solidifies the T, I think...

[SolitaryWalker]

I agree with that. I think they are less likely to get depressed, they just don't give a damn about existential matters. They just do things.

But dont we feel like we are more of masters of our own lives tackling the big questions and often finding satisfactory results, whilst ISTPs must feel like they are at the whims of fate? That MUST hurt their drive for competence, which they must have...they are a dominant Ti...

[fripping]

i know an istp who although doesn't normally seem depressed, when drunk really explores the dark corners of his psyche. he often talks hypothetically about killing himself, complains that his 9-5 is unfulfilling and hates working for the weekend, which is exactly what he does.

he's very bright and does tend to wander into existential depression during such times, especially since setting up drywall is a job far short of his talents. once he sobers up though there's hardly any hint of that kind of thought.

i don't know what the fuck seawolf is talking about, i live in a constant world of self-doubt.

[SolitaryWalker]

i know an istp who although doesn't normally seem depressed, when drunk really explores the dark corners of his psyche. he often talks hypothetically about killing himself, complains that his 9-5 is unfulfilling and hates working for the weekend, which is exactly what he does.

he's very bright and does tend to wander into existential depression during such times, especially since setting up drywall is a job far short of his talents. once he sobers up though there's hardly any hint of that kind of thought.

i don't know what the fuck seawolf is talking about, i live in a constant world of self-doubt.

Ts have more confidence in themselves than Fs because they dont need approval from others to feel fulfilled. Yes, they are more critical of themselves than Fs because they are more critical of everything by their nature--but all in all we are more confident because our sense of confidence generates from within based on objective criterion.

I doubt about whether or not I have this or that skill, but I never doubt that I would be able to develop it, and I never doubt that in my essence I am somehow inadequate. I am always assured that I have the inner substance to be successful at any task that truly catches my interest. I think most INTPs should share this quality with me, as Ti (introverted judgment) is almost specifically aimed at being competent (T), at tasks that are of importance to us (I-Introverted Judgment).

We differ from the Tes in this respect that they want to be successful by external standards, yet we do by internal. In the end we win out because we dont need to do well by external standards in order to feel fulfilled, as I myself attest that in my essence I always know I have the potential to succeed at whatever I find important.

So, if we have an INTP chess player on one side and ENTJ chess player on the other--both entering the tournament today. The ENTJ would need to win games in order to feel confident, yet the INTP would feel fulfilled no matter what--even if they lose, so long as they are successful by the INTERNAL standard--that standard is usually being honest with themselves or exploring new options, or thinking deeply...

If you dont have a high level of self-confidence, it is highly likely that you dont have a firm inner standard to go by, or are unsuccessful by the standard that you have set up.

[aether]

I agree that the N does help the INTP (at least me) get out of ruts. I tend to recover quickly from ruts while ISTP's seem to stay in that state for longer periods of time and cope with with addictions. Also, I think the INTP is generally more positive and optimistic than the ISP.

[SolitaryWalker]

Also, I think the INTP is generally more positive and optimistic than the ISP.

Yes, Ns tend to be more optimistic because Intuition-thinking about what could be as opposed to what is generates a sense of hope. Moreover, the INTP is more positive because the N makes them more confident in themselves.

[euterpenc]

Yes, Ns tend to be more optimistic because Intuition-thinking about what could be as opposed to what is generates a sense of hope. Moreover, the INTP is more positive because the N makes them more confident in themselves.

Or they can be ridiculously negative be expounding on worst case scenarios and all the things that can go wrong with something. It is a double-edged sword.

[SolitaryWalker]

Or they can be ridiculously negative be expounding on worst case scenarios and all the things that can go wrong with something. It is a double-edged sword.

They'd still have more resources available both because Intuition gives them more options to work with, and because it provides them with more stimuli from the inside.

[Oculus Sinister]

ISTPs have always seemed like the most thick-skinned and unshakeable of probably all of the types. I can't even imagine what a depressed one would be like.


Clingy. From personal experience, very anti-social and choosing in and out groups. Completely irrational.

[Rhu]

Clingy. From personal experience, very anti-social and choosing in and out groups. Completely irrational.
So you had a statistically significant sample of ISTPs in peak mental health?

[Oculus Sinister]

So you had a statistically significant sample of ISTPs in peak mental health?

I have a good friend who is ISTP.

Now that I think of it though, he and I have irrational bouts occasionally which are equal. ENFJ vs ESFJ

[fresh]

When it comes to myself, I'm a cold hard-ass who keeps meself in some kind of line. Coping resources? Bah. I'm an army of one, depressed and spaced out as hell or not. ;)